214 



CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



perhaps as had never been witnessed in their pre- 

 vious history, have occurred in the States involved 

 in the recent rebellion. I believe, however, that pub- 

 lic sentiment will sustain me in the assertion that 

 such deeds of wrong are not confined to any particu- 

 lar State or section, but are manifested over the en- 

 tire country, demonstrating that the cause that pro- 

 duced them does not depend upon any particu- 

 lar locality, but is the result of the agitation and de- 

 rangement incident to a long and bloody civil war. 

 While the prevalence of such disorders must be 

 greatly deplored, their occasional and temporary 

 occurrence would seem to furnish no necessity for 

 the extension of the bureau beyond the period fixed 

 in the original act. Besides the objections which I 

 have thus briefly stated, I may urge upon your con- 

 sideration the additional reason that recent develop- 

 ments in regard to the practical operations of the 

 bureau in many of the States show that in numerous 

 instances it is used by its agents as a means of pro- 

 4 moting their individual advantage; and that the 

 freedmen are employed for the advancement of the 

 personal ends of the officers, instead of their own 

 improvement and welfare, thus confirming the fears 

 originally entertained by many that the continuation 

 of such a bureau for any unnecessary length of time 

 would inevitably result in fraud, corruption, and 

 oppression. 



It is proper to state that in cases of this character 

 investigations have been promptly ordered, and the 

 offender punished whenever his guilt has been satis- 

 factorily established. As another reason against 

 the necessity of the legislation contemplated by_ this 

 measure, reference may be had to the " Civil Rights 

 bill," now a law of the land, and which will be faith- 

 fully executed as long as it shall remain unrepealed 

 and may not be declared unconstitutional by courts 

 of competent jurisdiction. By that act it is enacted 

 "that all persons born in the United States and not 

 subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not 

 taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the Uni- 

 ted States; and such citizens, of every race and 

 color, without regard to any previous condition of 

 slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 

 ment for crime whereof the party shall have been 

 duly convicted, shall have the same right in every 

 State and Territory in the United States, to make 

 and enforce contracts, to sue, to be parties, and give 

 evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and 

 convey real and personal property, and to full and 

 equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the 

 security of person and property, as is enjoyed by 

 white citizens, and shall be subject to like punish- 

 ment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any 

 law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the 

 contrary notwithstanding. 



By the provisions of the act full protection is af- 

 forded, through the district courts of the United 

 States, to all persons injured, and whose privileges, 

 as there declared, are in any way impaired; and 

 heavy penalties are denounced against the person 

 who wilfully violates the law. I need not state that 

 that law did not receive my approval ; yet its reme- 

 dies are far preferable to those proposed in the pres- 

 ent bill ; the one being civil and the other military. 



By the sixth section of the bill herewith returned, 

 certain proceedings by which the lands in the " par- 

 ishes of St. Helena and St. Luke, South Carolina," 

 were sold and bid in, and afterward disposed of by 

 the tax commissioners, are ratified and confirmed. 

 By the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh 

 sections, provisions by law are made for the disposal 

 of the landsfthus acquired to a particular class of 

 citizens. While the quieting of titles is deemed very 

 important and desirable, the discrimination made in 

 the bill seems objectionable, as does also the attempt 

 to confer upon the commissioners judicial powers, 

 by which citizens of the United States are to be de- 

 prived of their property in a mode contrary to that 

 provision of the Constitution which declares that no 



person "shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property 

 without due process of law." As a general principle, 

 such legislation is unsafe, unwise, partial, and un- 

 constitutional. It may deprive persons of their prop- 

 erty who are equally deserving objects of the na- 

 tion's bounty as those whom by this legislation 

 Congress seeks to benefit. The title to the land thus 

 to be portioned out to a favored class of citizens, 

 must depend upon the regularity of the tax sala 

 under the law as it existed at the time of the sale, 

 and no subsequent legislation can give validity^ to 

 the rights thus acquired as against the original claim- 

 ants. The attention of Congress is therefore invited 

 to a more mature consideration of the measures pro- 

 posed in these sections of the bill. 



In conclusion, I again urge upon Congress the 

 danger of class legislation, so well calculated to keep 

 the public mind in a state of uncertain expectation, 

 disquiet, and restlessness, and to encourage inter- 

 ested hopes and fears that the national Government 

 .will continue to furnish to classes of citizens in the 

 several States means for support and maintenance, 

 regardless of whether they pursue a life of indolence 

 or of labor, and regardless also of the constitutional 

 limitations of the national authority in times of peace 

 and tranquillity. 



The bill is herewith returned to the House of Rep- 

 resentatives, in which it originated, for its final action. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 

 "WASHINGTON, July 16, I860. 



After the reading of the message the bill was 

 repassed by the House by a two-thirds vote, as 

 follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alley, -Allison, Ames, Anderson, 

 Delos R. Ashley, James M. Ashley, Baker, Banks, 

 Barker, Baxter, Benjamin, Bidwell, Bingham, Bout- 

 well, Bromwell, Buckland, Bundy, Reader W. Clark, 

 Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Conkling, Cook, Dawes, De- 

 frees, Delano, Deming, Donnelly, Driggs, Eckley, 

 Eggleston, Eliot, Ferry, Gartield, Grinnell, Griswold, 

 Hale, Hart, Henderson, Higby, Holmes, Hooper, 

 Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, 

 John H. Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, Hulburd, Ju- 

 lian, Kasson, Kelley, Ketcham, Laflin, Latham, 

 George V. Lawrence, William Lawrence, Loan, Long, 

 year, Lynch, Marston, Marvin, McClurg, McKee, 

 McRuer, Mercur, Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Morris, 

 Moulton, Myers, Newell, O'Neill, Orth, Perham, Pike, 

 Plants, Price, William H. Randall, Alexander H. 

 Rice, Rollins, Sawyer, Schofield, Shellabarger, Spald- 

 ing, Stevens, Thayer, John L. Thomas, Trowbndge, 

 Van Aernam, Burt Van Horn, Robert T. Van Horn, 

 Ward, Warner, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. 

 Washburn, Welker, Wentworth, Whaley, Williams, 

 James F. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, 

 Woodbridge, and the Speaker 104. 



NATS Messrs. Ancona, Boyer, Dawson, Eldridge, 

 Finck, Glossbrenner, Grider, Aaron Harding, Hogan, 

 Humphrey, Johnson, Kerr, Kuykendall, Le Blond, 

 Marshall, Niblack, Nicholson, Noell, Phelps, Samuel 

 J. Randall, Raymond, Ritter, Rogers, Ross, Rous- 

 seau, Shanklin, Sitgreaves, Tabor, Taylor, Thornton, 

 Trimble, Henry D. Washburn, and Wright 33. 



NOT VOTING Messrs. Baldwin, Beaman, Bergen, 

 Blaine, Blow, Brandagee, Broomall, Chauler, Cof- 

 froth, Cullorn, Culver, Darling, Davis, Denison, Dixon, 

 Dodge, Dumont, Farnsworth, Farquhar, Goodyear, 

 Abner C. Harding, Harris, Hayes, Hill, Demas Hub- 

 bard, Edwin N. Hubbell, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Jones, 

 Kelso, McCullough, Mclndoe, Paine, Patterson, 

 Pomeroy, Radford, John H. Rice, Schenck, Sloan, 

 Smith, Starr, Stillwell, Strouse, Francis Thomas, 

 Upson, and Winfield 45. 



In the Senate, the bill was again, passed by 

 the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chandler, Clark, 

 Conness, Cragin,Creswell, Edmunds, Fessenden, Foa- 

 ter, Grimes, Harris, Henderson Howard, Howe, Kirk 



